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Illegal immigrant suspect in Laken Riley's murder indicted, accused of 'peeping' on UGA staff member

By AUDREY CONKLIN/FOX NEWS
Updated  May 8, 2024 10:44pm EDT
Laken Riley
FOX News

Laken Riley murder suspect called Peeping Tom

Jose Ibarra, the suspect accused in the UGA campus death of 22-year-old Laken Riley, has been indicted by a grand jury. Court documents also say Ibarra peeped through the window of a university staff member the same day.

A Georgia grand jury on Tuesday indicted Jose Ibarra, the suspect charged in Augusta University student Laken Riley's murder, on 10 counts, court documents show.

Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela, is accused of killing Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, while she was out for a run along dirt trails on the University of Georgia campus in Athens on Feb. 22.

The grand jury indicted Ibarra on counts of malice murder, two counts of kidnapping with bodily injury, two counts of aggravated assault with intent to rape, two counts of aggravated battery, obstructing or hindering a person from making a 911 call, tampering with evidence and being a "peeping tom."

Ibarra is accused of causing Riley's death by inflicting blunt-force trauma to her head and "asphyxiating her in a manner unknown to jurors," the indictment states.

The suspect is also accused of going to an apartment on UGA's "University Village Housing Building ‘S,'" where he "peeped through" a window and "spied upon" a university staff member on the same day he allegedly killed Riley, the indictment alleges.

Ibarra lived in an apartment building that sits on the edge of the on-campus park where Riley was running, allegedly murdered the aspiring nurse in what UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark described as a "crime of opportunity."

The scenic loop Riley ran that morning is easily accessible from behind Ibarra’s apartment complex. It is a five-minute walk from Ibarra’s door to the approximate scene where Riley was found dead.

UGA said in a February statement following Riley's death that the school has invested $16 million "over the last eight years to hire more police officers, install more security cameras, enhance lighting, establish a nightly rideshare program, and create a UGASafe app."

Laken Riley's murder: New accusations against surface

A 10-count indictment unveiled new accusations against the man accused of killing a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus. Jose Ibarra is accused of killing Laken Riley in February.

"But we are committed to doing even more," UGA said, adding that it also "approved an additional phase of lighting improvements and security camera installations" and "will continue to evaluate" safety measures.

The 26-year-old suspect illegally crossed into the United States through El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was released into the U.S. via parole, ICE and DHS sources previously told Fox News.

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Jose and his brothers, Diego Ibarra, 29; and Argenis Ibarra, 24, lived together in the same apartment. All three men were questioned and taken into custody after Riley's murder. Argenis and Diego first entered the United States on April 3, 2023, near Eagle Pass, Texas, and were deported the same day. They were arrested again on April 30 after crossing illegally into the U.S. near El Paso, Texas. They were later released and eventually traveled to Athens.

Diego Ibarra is charged with green card fraud and had ties to a known Venezuelan gang in the U.S., according to federal court documents.

Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this report.